Policy & Regulations

This channel includes news coverage of healthcare policy and regulations set by Congress, the states, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and medical associations and societies. 

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In Illinois, a call to slash healthcare costs by hiring 20,000 nurses

Hospitals in the sixth most populous state stand to save $1.4 billion by collectively adding about 20,000 nurses.

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Medicare continues slide toward insolvency

Seven years from now, Medicare Part A will only be able to reimburse hospitals 89% of costs for hospital stays and related services. Twenty years later, the portion CMS can pay will fall to 77%.

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Healthcare payments pose challenges to all affected parties

More than 90% of healthcare consumers were surprised by a medical bill in 2018, while nearly three-quarters were confused by a bill’s content and more than half could not pay a bill in full if it totaled more than $1,000.

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Opioid epidemic cost federal government $26B in lost tax revenue over 16 years

America’s opioid crisis cost the federal government some $26 billion in lost tax revenue and state governments $11.8 billion in lost revenue between 2000 and 2016, according to a recent analysis.

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Hospitals can only watch as big players move in on primary care

The primary care business is getting more crowded at the top, where the big money is.

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CMS proposes expanding national coverage indications for remote BP monitoring

CMS proposed to expand reimbursement for ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) to patients with suspected masked hypertension while continuing to cover it for those with white coat hypertension.

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ACP experts offer 7 ways to improve Obamacare

The American College of Physicians (ACP) published a position paper April 16 in the Annals of Internal Medicine, voicing their discontent with recent federal actions to weaken the Affordable Care Act and offering seven recommendations on how to improve it.

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Healthcare is trending toward pricier outpatient services

An increasing share of hospital services have been performed in an outpatient setting in the past decade, according to a recent analysis from the Health Care Cost Institute—a trend that’s costing patients more every year.

Around the web

Compensation for heart specialists continues to climb. What does this say about cardiology as a whole? Could private equity's rising influence bring about change? We spoke to MedAxiom CEO Jerry Blackwell, MD, MBA, a veteran cardiologist himself, to learn more.

The American College of Cardiology has shared its perspective on new CMS payment policies, highlighting revenue concerns while providing key details for cardiologists and other cardiology professionals. 

As debate simmers over how best to regulate AI, experts continue to offer guidance on where to start, how to proceed and what to emphasize. A new resource models its recommendations on what its authors call the “SETO Loop.”